Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a common psychiatric disorder, which affects approximately 1% of the general population and is characterized by episodes of mania and depression. Family, adoption and twin studies have shown that BPD has a genetic component. However, genetic causes have been difficult to elucidate due to the complex mode of inheritance and genetic heterogeneity.
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disease. Approximately 1 percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lifetime—more than 2 million Americans suffer from the illness in a given year. Although schizophrenia affects men and women with equal frequency, the disorder often appears earlier in men, usually in the late teens or early twenties, than in women, who are generally affected in the twenties to early thirties. Available treatments can relieve many symptoms, but most people with schizophrenia continue to suffer some symptoms throughout their lives; it has been estimated that no more than one in five individuals recovers completely.
Methods of treating BPD, schizophrenia, and other mood disorders and neuro-psychiatric diseases and disorders are urgently needed.